Since then, Superman’s portrayal in the DCEU has only gotten worse. Warner Bros. seems to be leaving him by the wayside, since he was dead for most of Justice League and the studio’s focus is on lesser-known properties. But hope isn’t all lost. Here are 10 Ways To Fix Superman In The DCEU.

10 Make his personality more positive

In the comics, Clark Kent is shy and nerdy and friendly, but the DCEU has characterized him as a brooding, mopey, angsty guy. It’s nothing like Superman is supposed to be. It’s like if the emo Peter Parker from Spider-Man 3 was how Parker was depicted full-time. It just feels wrong.

9 Don’t go so dark

The brass at Warner Bros. seems to think that ever since The Dark Knight made $1 billion at the box office, every single superhero movie needs to be dark and gritty. Even some of their lighter recent fare, like Wonder Woman, has had a gloomy, Snyder-esque quality to its visual style.

8 Show him as a beacon of hope

A large part of what makes the MCU so successful is its depiction of the public’s opinions of its heroes. When we hear Peter Parker’s classmates playing “Kiss, Marry, Kill” with the Avengers, we get a sense that Earth’s mightiest heroes are celebrities in this world and it makes the whole thing feel more grounded.

The public’s opinion of Superman is a powerful narrative tool, because it’s very important to him that he’s seen as a symbol of hope. Whether he is or isn’t could make a significant plot development. The DCEU has attempted to depict this, but botched it so far.

7 Give him more hopeful parents

Clark Kent’s love for the salt-of-the-Earth human parents that raised him is endearing in the DCEU, but as characters, they’re pretty dreary. Martha told Clark that he didn’t owe the world a thing, while Jonathan was willing to let a bus full of people drown to keep his son’s alien superpowers a secret.

In the comics, he was raised by more hopeful parents who gave him the values that would make him the brightest, most positive, most cheerful superhero who ever lived. That’s why he’s the leader of the Justice League. The DCEU’s Superman is in no fit state to lead a team of heroes.

That movie should’ve shown him develop from that guy into the Superman we know and love – the bright-eyed optimist – and since it didn’t do that, and he hasn’t changed yet, we need to see him develop on his own as a character in a solo movie to go from being the moody brat that’s getting on everyone’s nerves to the all-powerful symbol of heroism and nobility he is in the comics.

5 Stop all the killing

Superman doesn’t kill! It’s one of the undeniable truths of the character. He’s not a murderer. He stands for truth and justice and everything good, so he doesn’t kill people. Now, if he’s really forced to, like if the only way to save a school bus full of kids is, for whatever reason, to kill someone, that would be an interesting way to test those morals.

4 Let Henry Cavill run with it

One of the areas in which the MCU has succeeded where the DCEU has failed is casting. Actors like Chris Evans and Robert Downey, Jr. have been given the freedom to make their MCU roles – Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, respectively (obviously) – their own.

In interviews, Henry Cavill always comes off as a nice guy with a hint of shyness and a positive worldview. On paper, this makes him the perfect actor to play Clark Kent. The issue is that the scripts and directors of these movies haven’t given him the freedom to explore the character on his own terms.

The Joker is a terrific Batman villain – specifically a Batman villain, as opposed to anyone else’s villain – because he represents everything that Batman is not. Batman is precise and calculating; the Joker is an agent of chaos. In the comics, Lex has the brains where Superman has the brawn. But the DCEU hasn’t properly portrayed that.

1 He knows his purpose

The DCEU’s Superman is unsure what his destiny or his purpose in life are. But the Superman we know from the comics is absolutely sure what his purpose is. He’s Earth’s protector. His unwavering belief in the goodness of humanity makes him the alien that is sworn to look after us.

The only thing that torments him is the fact that he can only be in one place at any given time, and therefore can’t save everyone that needs to be saved. For Superman to work on film, he has to know his purpose, and instead struggle to reconcile his inability to save everyone with his Boy Scout attitude.